Phoenixville rejects hiring additional police officer

PHOENIXVILLE — Borough council voted 5-2 Tuesday to turn down a request to budget for a 29th officer for the Phoenixville Police Department.

Supporting the addition of a police officer were East Ward council members David Gautreau and council Vice President Michael Speck, who was recently elected mayor. Negative votes came from all other council members at the meeting. Middle Ward council member Jennifer Mayo was absent.

Borough Manager E. Jean Krack said he and Finance Manager Stephen Nease could, if necessary, find room in the budget to add another officer without raising taxes. The proposed budget does include the addition of two persons to the streets department, one to sanitation and one to public works.

“We have looked at our projections, and we believe that, if it was council’s pleasure, that we could work on the revenue side to get some additional dollars,” Krack said.

Advertisement

Speck said he supports bolstering the police force as long as the budget could be balanced without the need for a property tax hike.

Gautreau offered comments prior to Speck proposing an amendment to the 2014 budget to hire the extra officers.

“If it doesn’t happen this budget year ... I encourage the new council coming forward, please do not wait until this town’s population is booming to move forward. It’s important to get it in place now and do the right thing ... We are a growing town and it’s very important.”

Speck then put forward the amendment to add a 29th officer, effective July 1, 2014. The proposal was seconded by Gautreau.

Prior to vote on the amendment, Middle Ward council member Karl U. Bucus said the Phoenixville Police Department has adequate staffing.

“When we take a look at our coverage number versus other municipalities, we are in the same ball park ... we are are not, by that metric, understaffed ... which begs the question, from a coverage standpoint, a public safety standpoint, is there a need ‘on the street’ that we are hearing about from our constituents? My constituent comments have — 10-to-1 — have been about (non-police) services.”

Bucus said he might reconsider staffing levels in the future based on the department’s needs.

“I personally am totally persuadable,” said Bucus, ”but the data has not been brought to bear to persuade me.”

After Bucus spoke, council President Richard Kirkner gave an overview of personnel growth within borough government.

“I can talk both sides of this issue, but when I started (my current term) on council in 2006 ... we had 101 full time employees and, I believe, 24 or 25 police officers. We now have 89 employees and 29 police officers,” he said. “So that means in the non-police functions we have seen a 10-percent reduction ... and as the borough grows so do the responsibilities of all departments.”

He went on to point out that the borough has more parks than in 2006, and fewer employees in the Streets Department to take care of the parks.

“We built up the police department in past years — let’s get our non-police staffing back up to where it should be,” Kirkner said.

Kirkner finished his comments by adding that he was “coming down on the side of the (Borough) Manager and Finance Director’s recommendation increase staffing levels on the non-uniform level, this time.”

Despite his motion failing, Speck said he still believes another officer can be added to the police department and stay within the budget.

Council voted 7-0 to schedule a public hearing on the 2014 budget at its Dec. 10 meeting. The property tax rate is expected to remain at 5.32 mills.

Earlier in the meeting, council unanimously ratified the collective bargaining agreement between borough council and the police department. The three-year agreement, which lasts until Dec. 31, 2016, includes a 3.5-percent pay increase each year for members of the department.

Kirkner stated that the 3.5-percent increase is comparable to that of other municipal police pay increases in the region, and is the “reality of the landscape.”

He added that the current agreement works out better for the borough than the previous agreement, which had gone to arbitration.

Council member James Kovaleski of the West Ward, who represented council in the matter, was commended by fellow West Ward council member Dana Dugan for his hard work and dedication in helping negotiation the new pact.